Summary

This coiled bucket basket has been made with close stitched dyed pandanus bands. It also contains an unusual style of openwork coiling, loops which join the sides of the basket together. In Gunbalanya bucket baskets are made to reflect the shape of an introduced metal or plastic pail or bucket, the handle on this basket is also an influence from missionary times.

Local Name

badjkid

Physical Description

Circular basket, coiled, made sections of horizontal bands of close stitched dyed pandanus (purple, organge, grey) and two sections of open stitched loops of single coils in alternating colours of purple, orange, white and grey. The rigid handle of a single coil is stitched onto the upper rows of the basket at the top onto the rim.

Significance

Marilyn Gumurdul's signature style is typically the two sided pandanus handbags, however she is also well known for her coiled baskets. This one is very unusual in that she has created a section of open coiling by a row of loops by joining a length of single coil to the close coiled segments that make the basket hold its round shape. This work also has her signature single coil handle. Marilyn is recognised as a very accomplished fibre artist, and her work was profiled in the exhibition, Woven Forms: Contemporary Basket Making in Australia that opened at Object Gallery in Sydney in September 2005 and then toured nationally. It has also featured in the publication '500 Baskets: Celebration of the Basketmakers Art' (2006).

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